Seeing Life Differently
by luckyducky09
Summary: DiNozzos may not pass out, but only a DiNozzo could go into a hospital for a protection detail and end up fighting for his life. New chapter up 2/6/11
1. The Pentagon

**Seeing Life Differently**

**Summary: **DiNozzos may not pass out, but only a DiNozzo could go into a hospital for a protection detail and end up fighting for his life.

**Disclaimer: **Not mine, I don't own NCIS, although I do own NCIS seasons 1-5 on DVD.

**Chapter One: The Pentagon?**

"Grab your gear! We've got an explosion at the Pentagon!" Gibbs barked after a ten second phone call.

"The Pentagon?" Tony asked aloud.

"Yes, DiNozzo. The Pentagon!" Gibbs shouted.

"What is the body count?" Ziva asked as she quickly grabbed her gear.

"One dead, one injured and they've just started looking." Gibbs said.

Gibbs got his team to the Pentagon in record time, breaking almost every traffic law at least once. Tony had noticed that even Ziva looked uncomfortable with the way Gibbs had driven, which said quite a lot. Throughout their brief journey to the Pentagon, Leon had been calling Gibbs every five minutes asking for an update and Gibbs was ready to shoot somebody. Tony just hoped it wasn't him.

When they arrived on scene they were immediately escorted inside. They quickly were given a Sit-Rep by the man in charge and Gibbs wasted no time taking over the scene. He ordered Tony and Ziva to start processing the scene and told McGee to find out what was taking Ducky so long.

Less then ten minutes after they arrived Gibbs cell phone rang for the third time. After a brief conversation Gibbs slammed his phone shut and yelled for Tony, Ziva, and McGee to join him.

"That was Director Vance again. He has orders for me to remain at the scene. McGee, your with me. I want you to get copies of every security camera in this building and get them back to Abby ASAP. DiNozzo, Leon wants you with the girl. CIC ordered us to not let that girl out of our sight. David, the teacher's headed to the hospital with the girl. Get everything you can out of him. CIC wants an ID on the girl yesterday!"

"Tony, what is a CIC?" Ziva asked as they quickly made their way away from Gibbs and towards the paramedics who were loading the unconscious girl onto a stretcher.

"Commander in Chief, Ziva." Tony quickly explained. One of the paramedics was questioning a middle aged man who was clearly upset.

"When did she last eat?" Tony heard a paramedic ask.

"Her damn head is cracked open! Who the hell cares when she last ate! Why haven't you stopped the bleeding?!" The man yelled.

"Sir, you need to calm down!" The paramedic said.

"I am calm!" He said angrily.

"Excuse me! NCIS Special Agent DiNozzo and Officer David. We have orders to accompany you to the hospital." Tony said as he flashed his badge.

"We've only got room for one extra in the rig. The rest'll have to follow." The second paramedic, Alex according to his name tag said.

"I'm going." The man said.

"Sorry sir, I have orders to stay with the girl at all times." Tony briefly explained

"Let me speak with your boss." The man demanded.

"Orders aren't from my boss, sir. They're from the President of the United States." Tony said seriously. The paramedic nodded and was about to load the girl into the ambulance when he noticed the man's firm grip on the stretcher.

"Sir, I will follow right behind them. You need to let them work. The best way to help her now is to let the paramedics do their job and get her to the hospital as soon as possible." Ziva

The man released his grip on the stretcher and the paramedics rushed out the building with Tony right beside them.

"I realize this may be difficult but I need to ask you some questions." Ziva asked as she easily kept up with the ambulance, which was driving far too slow, much to her annoyance.

"Sure."

"What's her name?"

"Katie. Katie Docitt. And before you ask I'm Mike Wells."

"Okay Mr. Wells, when did you notice Katie was missing?"

"When we got outside, I took a head count. This is all my fault. I should have counted before we left the damn building. The kids were panicked and I was so focused on keeping them calm I forgot the most basic rule of field trips. Before you leave any area, you always take a head count."

"It is not your fault Mr. Wells. Your priority was to keep the children calm and you succeeded. I need you to focus. When did you last see Katie?" Ziva asked.

"A few minutes before the explosion. She and another student went to the head. Just before the explosion I saw the other student and... and I guess I assumed Katie had come back as well." Mike said.

"What is this other student's name?"

"Kim. Kim Docket."

"Does Kim know Katie well?" Ziva asked.

"Yes, very well. They're best friends."

"Have you noticed anything odd or different about Katie's behavior recently?"

"No, nothing."

"Can you think of any reason she would not have returned from the bathroom with her friend?" Ziva asked.

"No, not really."

An hour later Gibbs was walking down the hall at Bethesda Hospital towards the surgical waiting room. After a 40 minute briefing with Leon, he had been instructed by Leon to personally go to the hospital and report his team's findings on the girl directly back to Director Vance.

Explosions at the Pentagon were taken extremely seriously. Especially with one dead mail man and an innocent girl critically injured.

"Gibbs, I was just about to call you." Ziva said as soon as she spotted her boss enter the waiting room.

"How's the girl?" Gibbs asked.

"The girl's name is Katie Docitt and she is still in surgery. The doctors told Tony they would not know anything concrete for at least two more hours. That was twenty minutes ago."

"That why you were going to call me?" Gibbs asked.

"No, I was calling about the girl's teacher, Mike Wells. He was extremely upset when the doctors informed him Katie needed surgery. His reaction combined with his earlier behavior lead me to believe he has a much more personal relationship with the girl than a male teacher should have. I questioned him about it. Before he had the chance to answer, he collapsed onto the floor, convulsing. The doctors believe he suffered a stress induced seizure and are refusing to let me into his room." Ziva explained to Gibbs.

"Convenient."Gibbs muttered

"My thoughts exactly." Ziva replied.

"Officer David?" A man in green scrubs asked as he approached the pair.

"Yes, Dr. Chase?" Ziva asked.

"We no longer believe Mr. Wells suffered a trauma induced seizure. We--" Dr. Chase began to explain until Ziva abruptly cut him off.

"I knew that little rat was just faking so I couldn't question him! He--" Ziva's rant was cut short when the doctor interrupted her.

"He wasn't faking Officer David." Dr. Chase said.

"Then what happened?" Gibbs asked.

"Who are you?" Dr. Chase asked Gibbs.

"Her boss."

"Mr. Wells has epilepsy. We found a pill bottle in his pocket and according to the date it was filled, he missed a dose. The prescription has to be taken every 4 hours. He probably forgot because of everything he's been through today." Dr. Chase explained.

"Can we speak with Mr. Wells?" Gibbs asked.

"Sure, as long as you don't expect him to speak back. He's still unconscious. Could be for several more hours. Seizures are extremely draining on the body. It's not uncommon." The doctor said.

"Take us to his room." Ziva said.

"It's against hospital policy ma'am." Dr. Chase said.

"Doctor, I can have the President of the United States on the phone within a minute ordering you to allow us in or you could let us in yourself!" Gibbs yelled.

"Right this way. We've contacted his wife. She said she would be here shortly." Dr. Chase said before exiting Mike Wells room.

"I do not like him." Ziva said as soon as the doctor was gone.

"I don't like any doctors except for Ducky." Gibbs replied.

"What now?" Ziva asked.

"Now, we wait." Gibbs said simply before taking a long sip from his coffee cup.

**TBC: Let me know what you think. Next chapter should be up soon and will focus more on Tony!**


	2. Need to Know

**Seeing Life Differently**

**Chapter Two: **_Need to Know_

**A/N:** _Holy crap! 14 reviews for the first chapter, that's a new one for me. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys are awesome. I wanted to apologize for the delay in the update, my 2001 Dell finally kicked the bucket last Tuesday and it took some convincing to get my mother to cough up the money for a new computer. On that note, the new computer's amazing and won't be dying anytime soon._

_Now, on with the story_

… … … … …

Gibbs was seriously considering throwing his cell phone into the cold cup of crappy hospital coffee he was holding when it rang for the fifth time in past hour. He was currently sitting with the still unconscious teacher Mike Wells, who according to his doctor, suffered from an epilepsy induced seizure. His wife was due any minute. Gibbs was hoping the wife could help answer several key questions about the relationship between Mike Wells and his student, Katie Docitt.

Gibbs had sent Ziva back to NCIS after McGee called him to let him know he'd found a possible suspect from the security cameras. As soon as they got an ID on the mystery man Ziva and McGee had orders to pick him up... immediately. That was forty minutes earlier. Gibbs had yet to here anything from either one of them since then.

Gibbs sighed as he glanced at the caller ID and was pleasantly surprised to see it wasn't Leon for once. It was DiNozzo.

"What is it DiNozzo?" Gibbs barked into his phone.

"You told me to call you as soon as I knew something about the girl." Tony said, wincing when he realized he'd obviously caught the boss in a foul mood.

"Yeah _and--_" Gibbs questioned, clearly irritated with Tony.

"She's out of surgery and in the ICU. Her doctor says she'll make a full recovery but she won't be conscious at least for a couple of hours." Tony said.

"Good, that's good. McGee called, he found a potential suspect on the security cameras. He and Ziva are bringing him in as soon as they get an ID. You don't leave her side, DiNozzo." Gibbs said, sounding slightly less irritated then a moment ago, much to Tony's relief.

"Got it boss." Tony said.

"And Tony?"

"Yeah, boss?" Tony asked.

"Keep me updated." Gibbs said before abruptly hanging up.

As Gibbs got up to throw his cold coffee away, he saw a nurse walking towards him with a frantic looking young woman pushing a stroller.

"He's right through here, Mrs. Wells. I'll page his doctor to let him know you are here. Let me know if you have any questions." The nurse said.

"Thank you." Mrs. Wells said and the nurse nodded, before returning to the nurse's station twenty feet away.

"Mrs. Wells, I'm Special Agent Gibbs NCIS. Naval Crim--" Gibbs said, starting to introduce himself until he was cut off.

"Criminal Investigative Service. I'm not just a teacher's wife, Agent Gibbs." Mrs. Wells said.

"You're in the Core." Gibbs said, once he realized the woman standing before him was definitely a marine.

"Yes, I am. So was my husband. That's how we met. He was honorably discharged in 2002 after his unit was hit by an IED in Iraq. He was hit in the head with shrapnel but managed to drag all five of his men to safety. He was awarded a bronze star and the purple heart, but because of the shrapnel damage he couldn't pass the physical requirements." Mrs. Wells explained

"Is that when the seizures started?" Gibbs asked.

"No, Mike's had seizures his whole life, but the explosion made them worse. You know, its crazy I spent years wondering every day if I'd ever see him again when he was overseas. I never expected him to get hurt on a field trip to the Pentagon. How did this happen, again Gibbs?" Mrs. Wells asked.

"That's what we're trying to figure out Ma'am. I know this is a difficult time for you, but I need to ask you some questions about your husband." Gibbs said.

"I don't understand, I thought he just had a stress induced seizure after the explosion?" Mrs. Wells asked, clearly confused.

"He didn't have a seizure until one of my agents confronted him about his relationship with one of his female students, the student that was seriously injured in the explosion."

"Are you saying-- you're saying you think, you think my husband was inappropriate with this student?" Mrs. Wells asked, clearly shocked.

Gibbs quickly helped her into a chair after watching all the color drain from her face.

"We just need to clear some things up, Ma'am. Does your husband ever talk about any of his students with you?" Gibbs asked.

"He tries not to bring his work home, especially now with the baby, but yeah, of course sometimes he talks about his day." Mrs. Wells said.

"Do any names come to mind?" Gibbs asked.

"No, not really, except for Katie of course." Mrs. Wells said.

"Katie Docitt?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Katie Docitt was the student injured in the explosion, Ma'am."

"Oh, my god. How is she? Has anyone reached her mother yet?"

"No, Ma'am, your husband had a seizure before we could get any information about Katie's parents from him."

"Parent, it's just Katie's mother, Linda. I don't understand, if you didn't know about Linda then why is NCIS involved at all?"

"A marine was killed in the explosion. Why would we be involved because of Katie's mother?" Gibbs asked.

"Linda's a marine. Katie's father was my husband's best friend. He was killed in the Gulf War in 1990. Katie was born ten days later. Mike and I are Katie's godparents, although until Linda gets back we're acting as Katie's legal guardians."

"Gets back?" Gibbs asked.

"Linda has been in Iraq for ten days. She's due back next week. Normally, they don't send a single parent with an under aged child overseas, but Katie turns 18 in three weeks and her mother is the only qualified marine who can fix something way above my clearance level." Mrs. Wells explained.

"Were is she stationed?" Gibbs asked, as he pulled out his cell phone to call Vance.

"Like I said, this whole thing is above my clearance level, believe me, I've tried to get more information but they won't tell me anything."

"Alright, let's see if they'll play the need to know card with the President."

"The President?"

"Yes, Ma'am, he's demanded hourly updates on Katie's condition as well as our investigation." Gibbs explained.

Just as Gibbs started to dial Leon's number, his cell phone started ringing. It was DiNozzo again.

"DiNozzo, this had better be good!"

"It is, boss. I just learned that both of Katie's parents are Marines." Tony said with a little too much enthusiasm.

"I know, DiNozzo! I was just about to inform the president when you interrupted my dialing."

"Oh, sorry boss. How do you know?" Tony asked.

"The teacher, Mike Wells and his wife are Katie's godparents. Mike Wells' wife just got here and filled me in. Wait, I thought you said Katie would be unconscious for hours! Who the hell told you?" Gibbs asked.

"Katie's father" Tony said simply

"Her father?!" Gibbs asked, immediately unholstering his weapon.

"Yeah, Gunnery Sergeant Matthew P. Docitt, according to his ID."

"DiNozzo Katie Docitt's father was killed in action in 1990!" Gibbs barked.

"What's going on? Is Katie alright?" Mrs. Wells asked.

"Go tell that nurse I need immediate security assistance in Katie Docitt's ICU room. Now!" Gibbs instructed Mrs. Wells as he ran out of the room and headed for the stairs.

"Oh shit!" Gibbs heard Tony mutter before he heard shouting.

"Tony? I'm on my way!" Gibbs shouted into his phone as he made his way up the six flights of stairs which separated the ER from the ICU.

Gibbs clearly heard Tony struggling with someone followed by Tony dropping his phone. Luckily, Gibbs could still hear Tony shouting at someone, ordering them to freeze. Suddenly Gibbs heard the unmistakable sound of a gun shot, quickly followed by several other shots.

Gibbs quickly realized the shots were coming from two different distances and as he finally reached the sixth floor, Tony's line went dead

"Damn-it DiNozzo!" Gibbs cursed to himself.

**A/N:** _Alright, I know I promised more Tony is this chapter, but what can I say? My new computer took me in a new direction. Don't worry, our Fearless Leader will find DiNozzo at the beginning of chapter 3. So stay tuned for Tony some whumping._


	3. Dead on Arrival

Seeing Life Differently: Chapter 3, DOA

Gibbs burst into the hospital room of Katie Docitt and not even fighting in two wars could have prepared him for what he found.

His senior field agent was lying on the floor, which was bright white except for the increasingly large puddle of red seeping out from under Tony.

A quick assessment of the room lead Gibbs to a second body, also lying motionless on the floor. Although Gibbs did not want to leave Tony's side, he had to secure the scene before he focus on helping DiNozzo. Gibbs rushed to the other body, kicked away his gun, checked for a pulse and discovered the man was dead.

After making sure Katie didn't have any new injuries, Gibbs returned to the side of his unconscious senior field agent. Gibbs immediately found the source of the bleeding, Tony's right upper thigh. The location of the wound combined with the amount of blood loss could only mean one thing, the bullet had hit Tony's femoral artery.

Just as Gibbs was about to shout for help, several doctors and nurses came rushing into the room.

"What happened?" Someone asked and Gibbs resisted the overwhelming urge to shoot them.

Tony didn't have time for idiots to play 20 questions.

"He was shot, about 30 seconds ago. Bullet must've hit the femoral artery." Gibbs quickly explained.

"He's right, we've got to get him to the OR now! Call ahead tell them we're going to need at least 10 units of type specific."

"He's O positive." Gibbs explained.

"Alright, get him to OR 3. I want to be cutting in two minutes." The doctor in charge said.

"Mr." The doctor asked.

"It's Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS."

"Gibbs, okay I'm Doctor Sahm. What's his name?" The doctor asked.

"DiNozzo. Anthony DiNozzo."

"Do you know how to find his next of kin?" Dr. Sahm asked.

"You're looking at him."

"Good, I'll have a nurse bring out the consent forms. I'd explain them to you myself but if I don't get the bleeding stopped, Agent DiNozzo will bleed to death in minutes." Dr. Sahm explained.

Gibbs nodded and watched helplessly as the doctor literally ran down the hall and out of sight. Gibbs had spent just enough time in hospitals to know that doctors running is never a good sign.

Once the doctor was gone Gibbs reluctantly pulled out his cell phone and dialed the director.

"Director Vance" Leon said into his phone.

"Leon, we have a situation down here."

"Gibbs. What kind of situation?" Vance asked.

"There's been a shooting in Katie Docitt's ICU room." Gibbs said.

"A shooting? How the hell did that happen? I thought you told Agent DiNozzo not to let her out of his sight. Let me speak with him, Agent Gibbs."

"I can't do that Leon."

"Gibbs, this isn't the time to be covering for one of your men. Put Agent DiNozzo on the phone... NOW!" Vance ordered.

"I'm not covering for anyone Leon. I can't put him on the phone because he's just been rushed into emergency surgery. A bullet nicked his femoral artery." Gibbs explained.

"Is he going to make it?" Leon asked.

"Oh, he'll make it or he'll have me to answer to. I didn't give him permission to die and DiNozzo knows better then to disobey a direct order from me." Gibbs said, his mind briefly wandering back to the last time he'd ordered Tony not to die, almost four years earlier.

"Do you know how it happened?" Director Vance asked.

"Yeah, a man claiming to be Katie Docitt's father came to the hospital. His ID has been expertly forged, anyone would have fallen for it. I would have, except Katie Docitt's godmother had just informed me Katie's father was killed in action during Dessert Storm. I called Tony to warn him, but it was too late. By the time I got to the room, Tony was hit, and the suspect was dead." Gibbs explained.

"I'll call Doctor Mallard and send him right over for the body. Our first priority is ID-ing the man and discovering why he wanted the girl dead. Agent Gibbs, I trust you'll keep the girl alive until I get there?" Director Vance asked.

"Yes, sir." Gibbs said before hanging up on the Director before he had the chance to say anything else.

Knowing Ducky would soon be on his way, Gibbs decided to call Abby next.

He dialed the number to Abby's lab and waited for her to answer.

She picked up on the third ring, "Abby-Cadabra Forensics Extrondiare speaking, how may I director your call?"

Gibbs couldn't help but smile. She'd definitely had an extra Caf-Pow or two since the last time Gibbs had spoken to her.

"Abs" Gibbs said.

"Gibbs! Why are you calling? You shouldn't be calling, I don't have anything for you yet. Looks like somebody's ESP is a little off today." Abby said quickly.

"Abs!" Gibbs said, trying to get her attention.

"Yes, Gibbs?" Abby asked, frowning as she suddenly got a bad feeling. The frown quickly disappeared when she noticed McGee enter her lab with a fresh Caf-Pow, which she immediately took a huge gulp of.

"Ah. I love you Timmy!" Abby told him.

McGee rolled his eyes, muttering "sure you do" as he sat down next to her and resumed helping her sift through the evidence from the explosion.

"I need you to listen to me. And tell McGee to listen too." Gibbs instructed.

Abby quickly turned on the speaker phone "Gibbs, you're starting to scare me, what's going on?"

"There's been a shooting at the hospital, in Katie Docitt's ICU room. Ducky's already on the way to collect the shooter, Vance wants an ID on him ASAP. McGee, I need you and Ziva down here to process the scene."

"Boss, why can't Tony process it?" McGee asked, earning a headslap from Abby.

"Ow, what was that for?" McGee asked.

"For doubting Gibbs' gut." Abby said simply. "I wasn't doub--" Their bickering was immediately cut off by Gibbs.

"Hey, both of you that's enough!"

"Somebody needs another coffee." Abby muttered to McGee.

"I'm having one right now Abs." Gibbs replied with a grin.

"I see your hearing is as good as ever my silver haired fox." Abby answered with a smile.

"Abby?!" Gibbs said sternly

"I know, I know. I'm not supposed to call you that. How about 'Oh-Wise-and-Fearless-Leader'?" Abby asked.

"Abs!" Gibbs barked.

"Yes Gibbs?"

"Tony was injured by the dirt-bag."

"Oh my god! Gibbs, why didn't you say that from the beginning? How is he? Let me talk to him! Tell him I'm on my way!" Abby rambled.

"Abs! You have to stay at your lab."

"But Gibbs"

"No 'buts' Abs. I need you to ID the man who shot Tony and find out why he was trying to kill Katie Docitt."

"Shot? Tony was shot? You said he was injured Gibbs. You never said anything about Tony being shot!" Abby yelled.

"Abs, listen to me. Tony's going to be fine. The good thing about getting shot in a hospital is you are surrounded by trained doctors and nurses who have all the equipment they need to save you. He's already in surgery, there's nothing you can do here for him but sit in the waiting room and panic. If you want to help Tony then help him by finding out who shot him and why. Can you do that for him?"

"Can I come to the hospital when I'm finished?" Abby asked.

"Sure."

"Then I'll get right on it. You better call me the second he's out of surgery!" Abby said.

"I will." Gibbs said before slamming his phone shut as he silently ordered Tony to make it out of the surgery alive.

**TBC**

A/N: Sorry about the long wait, school has been crazy this past month, especially since I missed 11 days from being out sick with Mono. My last day of final exams is Wednesday May 27th and then I'll have much more time to write and update on a regular basis!


	4. The Great Awakening

Seeing Life Differently Chapter 4: The Great Awakening

**A/N:** Sorry this chapter took so long, I've been gone for the last month on vacation staying with family members in Virginia. I just got back July 3rd (and I left June 6th) so I apologize for the delay. I hope you guys can forgive me : D

Anyway, here's the next chapter of _Seeing Life Differently_! Enjoy!

Katie Docitt and Tony DiNozzo were now sharing a room in the ICU of Bethesda Naval Hospital. Leroy Jethro Gibbs hadn't left Tony's side since he had been wheeled out of the OR and into the ICU.

Katie's godfather, Mike Wells, had recovered from his seizure and sitting at Katie's bedside.

"Agent Gibbs, have your people had any luck reaching Katie's mom?" Mike asked.

"Not yet, however, my boss has informed the president that we're being stone-walled so it shouldn't be too much longer." Gibbs explained.

"I'm gonna go get a coffee and check in with my wife. She's my sub for the day and I need to make sure my students haven't killed her yet. Can I get you anything?" Mike asked Gibbs.

"No thanks Mike, I'm good." Gibbs replied.

Although not one to pass up on the offer for a free refill, Gibbs always made an exception when it came to the brown crap hospitals attempted to call "coffee".

Mike Wells had been gone for less than a minute when Gibbs heard an unmistakable moan come from next to him.

Gibbs immediately got out of the uncomfortable hospital chair and rushed to his agent's side.

"Tony? Hey Tony! Tony?! DiNozzo, can you hear me?" Gibbs asked urgently without raising his voice.

"I-- I hear ya Boss." Tony mumbled as he opened his eyes for the first time.

"Woah, I can see you too Boss. Could you maybe stop moving so much, it's making me kinda dizzy."

"DiNozzo I'm not moving. I'll go find your doctor, let him know you're awake." Gibbs said softly, his voice lacking its usual gruff/anger mix.

"My doctor?" Tony asked as he glanced around the room taking in his surroundings for the first time and groaning in immediate frustration.

"Hospital?" Tony asked.

"Yeah."

"Wat happ'ned?" Tony asked as he clearly fought to stay awake.

"You tell me. What do you remember?" Gibbs asked his senior field agent, anxious to see what Tony remembered.

Tony groaned as he clearly tried to push past his drug induced haze. Over a minute passed in silence before Tony finally spoke again. "Got shot?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, in the leg. Your a lucky bastard DiNozzo, if you had gotten shot in anywhere other then a hospital you would have been dead in five minutes." Gibbs explained.

"That bad?" Tony asked.

"You'll be fine DiNozzo, like I said, your a lucky bastard." Gibbs reiterated.

Tony's eyes became wide with fear as the events leading up to the shooting came rushing back to him.

"The girl?" Tony asked, clearly panicked.

"She's fine Tony. You did good." Gibbs said.

"That's good." Tony muttered clearly losing the battle against the drugs still rushing through his body.

"Get some rest DiNozzo, you need it Ducky wants you up and walking in the next 12 hours." Gibbs instructed Tony after noticing how tired his senior field agent was.

"Ducky?" Tony asked, opening his eyes again.

"Yeah, Ducky." Gibbs confirmed to Tony.

"Tell Ducky... keep his hands of--off my … mighty mouse stapler." Tony said before he quickly fell asleep again.

Gibbs couldn't help but smile at Tony's comment. "I will DiNozzo, I will" Gibbs replied.

Tony had been asleep for only twenty minutes when Gibbs' cell phone rang yet again. Glancing at the tiny screen, Gibbs suddenly felt his mood improve drastically. He was always glad to hear from Abby, especially right now.

Gibbs flipped open his phone and said "Yeah, Abs?"

Gibbs couldn't help but smile when he heard Abby let out a shocked cry. "Gibbs, you knew it was me? I'm telling you, its ESP."

"Abby, don't get too excited, I looked at the caller ID doo-da." Gibbs explained.

"Wow Gibbs, I'm impressed. Since when do you use your caller ID doo-da?" Abby asked.

"Abby" Gibbs said in his usual '_get to the point' _voice.

"Right, doo-da's aren't the reason I called you." Abby said quickly.

"I'm glad." Gibbs said.

"How's Tony doing? Is he awake yet?" Abby asked, worry still very evident in her voice.

"DiNozzo's fine Abby, tell me you didn't call just to check on Tony, especially since you just did that forty minutes ago." Gibbs said

"Tony was just half of the reason I called you Gibbs." Abby explained quickly.

"And what's the other half?" Gibbs asked.

"I have an ID on the man that shot Tony."

"That's good work. Tell Ziva I want to know everything about him from the day he was born until the moment he walked into that hospital room and shot DiNozzo."

"That's just it Gibbs. There's a problem with the ID." Abby explained, hoping not to make too mad.

"What kind of problem?" Gibbs asked.

"A major one. One I can't discuss over the phone. I need to tell you in person." Abby said.

"Abby I'm on protection detail, just explain in to Ziva and tell her to come brief me here as soon as she's done with you." Gibbs said, silently wondering what this major problem could possibly be.

"No Gibbs, I have to tell you … and only you Gibbs." Abby said.

"Alright Abby. Tell Ziva to come here and take over my protection detail. I'll be there as soon as I can. And Abby?"

"Yes Gibbs?"

"This better be good. If Leon finds out I left the hospital, he'll have my hide."

"Don't worry Gibbs, I have McGee keeping Leon busy. Like I said before, no one can find out about this before I tell you. Especially Ziva."

"What do you mean, especially Ziva?" Gibbs asked, know even more curious then he was a moment ago.

"Gibbs, please just get here. I'll explain everything, I promise!" Abby said before hanging up on Gibbs, for the first time since she had met him, over a decade earlier.

Staring at his phone in shock, Gibbs realized that he phone had not broken as he suspected but rather that Abby had hung up on him.

"You better, Abby. You better." Gibbs said before slamming his phone shut. Now all he had to do is wait for Ziva to arrive and he finally go figure out what the hell Abby was talking about. Whatever it was, it apparently had something to do with Ziva, which usually meant it had something to do with Mossad, which was never a good thing. Never!


	5. Brotherly Love

Seeing Life Differently Chapter 5: Brotherly Love

Due to rush hour traffic it took Ziva 55 minutes to make it to Bethesda Naval Hospital from the Navy yard. Although she had once heard Tony say it took him about 45 minutes, it normally took Ziva 20. Ziva quickly greeted Gibbs and handed him a fresh cup of real coffee, he nodded and took off in his usual fashion, without a word.

Luckily Gibbs had avoided the highway because he absolutely hated traffic and made it to the Navy Yard in just under 30 minutes.

Tossing his empty cup in the trash, he immediately made his way into NCIS headquarters and into the elevator leading down to Abby's lab.

"Abby!" Gibbs shouted over the always present blaring music.

"Gibbs, I wasn't expecting you for another hour. It's rush hour." Abby said, quickly rushing to Gibbs to give him one of her famous bear hugs.

"When has that ever stopped me Abs?" Gibbs asked with a smirk.

"That's a good point Gibbs. I don't know why I didn't think of that. Maybe there's something wrong with our ESP." Abby ranted, stopping to think about what she had just said.

"Abs." Gibbs warned, letting Abby know he clearly was not in the mood for her usual perkiness.

"Right, that's not important. What is important is this." Abby said, before walking over to her computer. She was rapidly typing for a few moments and then a photo appeared on her screen.

"Who's this?" Gibbs asked.

"Our shooter Gibbs." Abby explained.

"Alright, what is this major problem that you couldn't tell me about over the phone?" Gibbs asked Abby.

"Meet Hassan Haswari." Abby said, pointing to the photo on her screen.

"Abs, I don't believe in co--" Gibbs started to say until Abby cut him off.

"I know and neither do I. Ari may have killed your agent but he killed my best friend. I had to check. So I ran a DNA test of Hassan Haswari's blood against the sample we had on file of Ari. These are the results." Abby said, typing feverishly on her keyboard for a few seconds.

The results of the DNA test appeared on the computer screen on top of the photo of Hassan.

"Explain these to me Abs." Gibbs said, pointing to the results on the screen.

"Hassan Haswari is related to Ari, Gibbs. They're brothers. Which means the man to tried to kill Katie, and almost killed Tony is--" Abby began, until Gibbs cut her off.

"Ziva's half brother. Keep this quiet Abby. If Lance finds out about this he'll remove us from the case and that can't happen."

"It won't Gibbs. I'm deleting the search results now." Abby said as she resumed her rapid typing. Seconds later the results of the DNA test and the photo of Hassan Haswari disappeared.

"That's good work Abs. I need you to do one more thing for me?"

"Name it, my silver haired fox." Abby said.

Ignoring his least favorite pet name Gibbs replied, "I want to know everything about Hassan by the time I get back. Bank accounts, credit card usage, phone records, I need the works."

"Of course Gibbs. Who do you think I am, some probie?" Abby asked.

"Course not Abs. There's more. I don't want anyone finding about this search. Think you can do that for me?" Gibbs asked.

"What search, Agent Gibbs?" Abby asked with a smile.

"Good girl. I'll be back." Gibbs replied.

"Gibbs! Gibbs! Wait! Where are you going?" Abby asked as Gibbs started to head for the door.

"I'm going to get some answers, Abby. Don't worry I'll be back soon." Gibbs answered before walking through the door and exiting without another word.

Abby picked up Bert and gave him a good squeeze. "I hate it when he does that. Whenever he gives me cryptic answers that always leads to trouble. And after Tony got shot, I think the team has had all the trouble then can handle for a while." Abby said to Bert before placing him back on his shelf.

Meanwhile, back at Bethesda Naval Hospital Ziva was enjoying see Tony awake for the first time since he had been shot.

He was awake and semi-alert, although the narcotics he was being given for pain were certainly allowing Ziva to see a different side of her partner. A side Ziva would be quite happy never seeing again.

His roommate, senior Katie Docitt was also awake doing work from a Calculus text book. Tony had made the mistake of asking Katie if he could see what she was working on, and had earned himself a headache just by looking at the paper covered with Katie's work.

Ziva had laughed when Tony exclaimed "What the hell is this? This isn't math, there's no numbers."

Katie had replied, "It's AP Calculus BC Agent DiNozzo, a sophomore college course."

"College course? What are you some kind of genius?" Tony asked her.

"No, I just enjoy being challenged Agent DiNozzo."

"You're nuts kid, completely insane. And enough with the Agent DiNozzo crap. We're sharing a room, you can call me Tony." Tony said.

"Okay, Tony." Katie replied.

"I think I need to sleep off this Calculus headache, you guys can do all the girly stuff you want though." Tony said before shutting his eyes.

Ziva watched her partner silently until she was content he was sleeping soundly, which wasn't hard to detect with his light snoring.

"What exactly is this girly stuff, Agent David?" Katie asked as soon as she noticed Ziva was no longer staring at Tony.

"I have no idea, Katie. And it's Officer David, not agent, but you may call me Ziva." Ziva replied.

"Officer? From which country?" Katie asked.

"Israel. You are very intelligent, most people ask me 'What's the difference?' when I correct them." Ziva told Katie.

"I'm not most people." Katie replied.

"I can see that." Ziva said.

"You never answered my question about the girly stuff. What kind of girly stuff does Tony think you do?" Katie asked.

"Tony was most likely joking. He knows as a Mossad assassin I do not act girly at all. I do not even watch his so called Chicken Flicks." Ziva explained.

"I think you mean Chick Flicks and don't worry I refuse to watch them too. So you're Mossad, that's so awesome. I would totally love to fight you some time." Katie exclaimed excitedly.

"Excuse me?" Ziva asked, clearly confused.

"Oh, sorry, that came out wrong. You're Mossad, so I assumed you have some awesome Martial Arts skills. I've been practicing Martial Arts since I was six."

"What form of Martial Arts?" Ziva asked.

"Tang-Soo-Do." Katie replied.

"Ah, excellent choice, I was not trained in Tang-Soo-Do by Mossad but I have picked up many tricks from your karate. Very good choice. So you must be a 2nd dan then?"

"No, actually I'm a 3rd dan. Got it the day after my 17th birthday. I'm the youngest woman ever to have my sam dan out of all my Master's seven do-jangs. I've been working at his Falls Church do-dang since I was fifteen, over three years." Katie explained.

"That is very impressive Katie, perhaps once you have recovered we could spar each other." Ziva suggested.

"That'd be awesome Ziva! Katie replied happily.

It was first time Ziva had seen the girl smile since the explosion nearly a week earlier.

Gibbs had been watching the pair's conversation from the door of their ICU room. He was also please to see Katie smile. Her smile reminded him of Kelly, Katie looked like she could be Kelly's sister, brown hair and blues eyes.

Pushing away the memories of Kelly, Gibbs cleared his throat as he entered the room.

"Gibbs, I was not expecting you for hours. Is everyone alright?" Ziva asked.

"Everyone is fine. I need to speak to you." Gibbs replied.

"Okay." Ziva said.

"Privately." Gibbs added, pointing to the door.

Ziva was very puzzled by the unusual behavior Gibbs was showing. Something was definitely bothering him.

"What about Katie?" Ziva asked.

"Sounds like she can take care of herself, besides we'll be right outside the room." Gibbs said, before walking out to the hallway of the ICU wing.

Ziva quickly followed him.

"What is this about Gibbs?" Ziva asked.

"Your brother." Gibbs answered.

**A/N: Okay, not much Tony in this chapter, but I promise Tony won't be fine for long.**


	6. Oh, Crap!

Seeing Life Differently Chapter Six: Oh Crap!

Previously on _Seeing Life Differently_

"What is this about Gibbs?" Ziva asked.

"Your brother." Gibbs answered.

…

"Ari?" Ziva asked, clearly shocked.

"No, not Ari. Hassan." Gibbs clarified.

"Hassan?" Ziva questioned, obviously confused.

"Yeah, Hassan Haswari, your brother."

"Hassan Haswari is _NOT _my brother!" Ziva yelled angrily.

"Oh, really? Let's see Hassan is Ari's brother and Ari is your brother so according to my def--"

Ziva angrily cut Gibbs off before he could finish speaking. "Ari is my _half_ brother. Our father is not Hassan's father. Ari and Hassan only share the same mother." Ziva replied bitterly.

It was obvious to Gibbs that not only was Ziva telling the truth, she clearly didn't like Hassan at all. Despite the risk of angering the Mossad liaison further, Gibbs decided he had to push Ziva more, so he could discover everything she knew about Hassan Haswari.

"How well do you know him?" Gibbs asked Ziva.

"I will not answer another question until you tell me why you are asking me about Hassan!" Ziva declared.

"Ziva, Abby got an ID on the man who shot Tony. It was Hassan Haswari." Gibbs said gently, unsure of how Ziva would react.

"No. NO! That is not possible! Abby was wrong. She made a mistake. Abby messed up. She had to. Ziva said, her eyes filling with tears but she refused to let them fall.

"Why Ziva? Why does Abby have to be wrong?" Gibbs asked.

"Because Hassan is dead. I saw him die with my own eyes when I was sixteen." Ziva explained.

"Ziva, that was a long time ago. You were just a kid perhaps you thought--"

"You did not know me then Gibbs. I was not 'just a kid' as you say. I had been training with Mossad for three years and had killed over a dozen people. I was not mistaken." Ziva replied bitterly.

"Who was it that supposedly 'killed' him?" Gibbs asked.

"Ari. Ari killed Hassan." Ziva replied.

"Why would Ari kill his half-brother?" Gibbs questioned.

"Ari hated Hassan. They never got along. I only met Hassan twice. The first time I was ten years old. When I told Ari that Hassan had cornered me on my way home from school, he was furious. Ari told me if I ever saw him again that I should not hesitate to injury him and then run. I was to tell Ari if that ever happened and he would 'handle it'." Ziva explained.

"What happened the second time you met Hassan?"

"I do not wish to speak about it. It was a long time ago." Ziva said, tearing up again.

"Ziver, please."

"I am sorry Gibbs, I cannot." Ziva said before walking back into the ICU room, leaving Gibbs alone and confused in the hallway.

Reluctantly Gibbs decided not to pursue Ziva, he had pushed her enough for one day and she obviously had no further relevant information about Hassan Haswari.

"Ziva, I'm going back to NCIS. Call McGee when you want to be relieved of your protection detail."

"I will Gibbs." Ziva replied.

_**NCIS--NCIS--NCIS--NCIS--NCIS--NCIS--NCIS**_

Three days later Gibbs, McGee, Ziva, Abby, Ducky, Director Leon Vance, and his security team were at Bethesda Naval Hospital.

Tony DiNozzo and Katie Docitt were both being released from the hospital.

Tony was honestly shocked when he saw the director walk into his soon-to-be former hospital room.

"Vance, I didn't you were invited to my get out of jail party. Should I be honored or offended?" Tony commented with a smirk.

"Very funny, Agent DiNozzo. Keep it up and I won't tell you why I came here." Leon said.

"Sorry to interrupt, but would someone be oh-so-kind and explain to me who the new guy is?" Katie Docitt asked.

"Ms. Docitt, I apologize for my rudeness, my name is Leon Vance, and I am the Director of NCIS." Leon explained.

"Leon, now that we all know each other will you explain why the hell you insisted on coming with us?" Gibbs asked.

"Very well. Agent DiNozzo, I understand your doctors have ordered you to stay out of the office for the next three weeks." Leon told Tony.

"Yeah, I'm not even allowed to be on desk duty! It's inhuman!" Tony complained.

"I never thought I would see the day when Tony DiNozzo would complain about not having to do paperwork." Ziva said with a smirk.

"Me either." McGee agreed.

Gibbs glared at Ziva and McGee silencing them instantly.

"If I may continue, I've spoken with Doctor Mallard and he has approved of my proposal."

"Which is?" Gibbs asked, clearly getting impatient with the director.

"I want Agent DiNozzo leading them team that will be responsible for Ms. Docitt's protection now that she is no longer in the hospital. We have a safe house fully stocked with everything you are going to need, including a personalized physical therapy room courtesy of Mr. Palmer." Leon explained.

"Where is the little Autopsy Gremlin anyway? Did someone forget to invite him to the party?" Tony asked.

"I'm afraid Mr. Palmer is at home with a bad case of the stomach flu that seems to be spreading rapidly throughout the NCIS staff." Ducky explained.

"Yeah, don't remind me Ducky, I'm still getting over it." McGee said.

"I always said you didn't have the stomach to work at NCIS, I guess I was right." Tony replied, earning his first post hospital discharge head slap from Gibbs.

"Woah, woah, woah! Can we go back to the part about a _safe house_!" Katie exclaimed.

"Yes, until we find every member responsible of the bombing at the Pentagon, I'm afraid you'll have to remain in protective custody Ms. Docitt." Leon said.

"I get that, and I have no problem with that, but I have a house and it's safe." Katie replied.

Leon briefly glanced at Gibbs before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a toothpick.

Not in the mood to wait for Leon to summon the nerve, Gibbs took over.

"Katie, several days ago your house was broken into. You can't go back there, it isn't safe right now."

"Broken into? That's it? It was probably just some kid looking for some quick cash." Katie said to Gibbs.

"No, it wasn't. Your Uncle told us nothing of value was missing. He said the only thing missing were some photos. Photos of you and your Mom. That means they know who you are and what you look like. The best way for us to keep you safe is for you to stay at the safe house until we catch these dirtbags."

After a few tense moments of silence, Katie finally answered Gibbs. "Fine, I'll agree to stay at the safe house on one condition." Katie stated.

"And what would that be?" Leon asked, somewhat annoyed with the teenager's demand.

"My cats get to come with me." Katie told Leon.

Gibbs smirked as he knew how much his senior field agent hated cats, or to be more precise, all animals.

The following evening Katie and Tony were finally settled in at their temporary home. However, neither one of them were having the least bit of fun.

Gibbs had dropped by shortly after six with dinner, and immediately became concerned when DiNozzo didn't open the door. Removing his Sig Sauer from its hostler, Gibbs silently used his key and entered the safe house with his gun drawn.

Gibbs quickly cleared the kitchen and dining room before moving into the living room. Charlie Gibson was giving a report on World News Tonight, but the room was otherwise lifeless.

Just as he was about to head upstairs, Gibbs heard a toilet flush down the hall. A few seconds later Gibbs watched as his senior field agent emerged from the bathroom looking absolutely miserable.

"Boss, when did you get here?" Tony asked, clearly surprised to see Gibbs standing in the living room pointing his gun at him.

Gibbs immediately lowered his weapon and returned it to his holster.

"While you were in the head. You okay, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, concerned by the appearance of Tony.

"Other then the fact that I'm dying and going to kill McGee, I'm fine boss." Tony complained as he practically threw himself onto the couch with a loud moan.

"What did McGee do you to DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"He came to my 'get out of jail' party while he was still contagious!" Tony stated clearly annoyed.

"Contagious?" Gibbs questioned.

"Yeah, he was complaining about a stomach flu. Now he gave it to me … and the kid too!" Tony said.

"Katie's sick too?" Gibbs asked, clearly shocked.

"Yeah, didn't she tell you?" Tony questioned.

"No, I haven't seen her." Gibbs answered.

"What? She was in the kitchen before I went to the head!" Tony exclaimed, rushing to get up off the couch.

Tony immediately regretted his decision as was met with an overwhelming wave of dizziness and nausea.

"DiNozzo, sit down before you fall down!" Gibbs ordered.

Tony collapsed back onto the couch and watched as Gibbs ran out of sight.

As he slipped into darkness, his last clear thought was "Man, I shouldn't have eaten that pizza"


	7. Author's Note

To all of my loyal readers:

I have not forgotten about _any_ of my stories not marked complete, which means all of them except for one. I will admit I have no immediate plans to finish "All in the Family" as I don't really like anything about that particular story at the moment.

In addition to being a freshman at College of Art & Design, I am also in the process in moving for the first time in my entire life. For the last several weeks, what little spare time I did have, was spent packing box after box and cleaning room after room. The man I'm moving in with (who is doing all the repairs and painting on my house) says it should be about 10 more days, but my mother says he is a little too optimistic with his time frame.

Not only do flu viruses spread like wild fire in college, I've learned computer viruses do as well. My gateway computer purchased less than a year ago has been non-operational for months now (which contained at least two nearly completed chapters) and weeks after I officially declared it a piece of shit, computer experts confirmed it was indeed a lemon. Then I was able to get my old 2002 dell working, and only days later a flashdrive infected with a virus from my school kicked it's already weak ass once and for all. I've got a computer now, but have almost no time to plot, write, edit, and upload chapters for my stories. Case in point, I'm on a computer for the first time since this weekend and have nearly 200 e-mails to go through in my "spare time".

During some boring classes this week my muse started working again and I started writing down everything that was spewing out of my brain. Unfortunately, my muse decided after seeing George Clooney and Julianna Margulies kiss at the Golden Globes, it made me realize just how much I missed ER, especially Doug and Carol's mysterious relationship. Then, after seeing a re-run of Bones on TNT with FBI director Sam Cullen(portrayed by the amazing actor John M. Jackson), I suddenly remembered how I always wanted to write a story based on the idea that Sam Cullen was in fact, JAG's Admiral AJ Chegwidden. Despite one article's claim that "people are finally starting to realize NCIS isn't their grandfather's JAG" JAG was an incredible show that deserves a hell of a lot of credit for it's ten amazing seasons which lead to its spin-off NCIS which led to a spin-off itself of NCIS: LA.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that I'm hopeful now that my muse has gotten some ER and JAG out of its system, it will return to my most recent stories "Seeing Life Differently" and "Semper Fi in the Scarecrow".

To anyone who still reads my Angel story "Almost Gone" I have some really good news. I've recently been watching both Buffy and Angel DVDs on a regular basis which has gotten me reacquainted with the characters and has restored my faith (no pun intended) that I can and will finish this story. It will take me a little longer to update "Almost Gone" but it is absolutely on my to-do list in the coming weeks.

I have one final thing for the readers of my "Semper Fi" story. I have been considering changing the way I write/upload it slightly. I'm thinking about writing two separate documents, one for NCIS, one for Bones, hopefully to clarify some things about the opposite show and have a little more interaction with the characters of each specific show. It would be the exact same story line, probably have the same verbal dialogue, but the thoughts and interactions of the characters would vary slightly. In order to keep it fair, I would wait until both sides are finished and post them at the same time. This would mean updates will take me about 1.5 times longer to post so I want your input. Please tell me: keep it one or split it up!!!!!

Thanks everyone,

Luckyducky09


	8. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** I'd like to thank everyone who has stuck with this story all this time and a special thank you to those of you who have reviewed. I give you all virtual cookies. I apologize for the delay, college has been insane as has my personal life and when I finally had a few spare minutes to sit down and write, I got a bad case of writer's block. I'm still not totally satisfied with the way this chapter turned out, but I didn't want to completely re-write it a third time!

To waterchick99- My professionalism is towards my college education and my courtesy is spending time with my family. Any good _professional_ in a computer field as I am knows McAfee doesn't catch everything and Norton is simply a joke.

**Seeing Life Differently Chapter 7**

Gibbs darted over to the stairs leading to the second floor of the house, taking them two at a time. He entered the master bedroom of the safe house which was serving as the temporary bedroom of Katie Docitt.

"Woah, Katie, are you alright? What happened?" Gibbs asked as he barged into the bathroom with bothering to knock. The bathroom wasn't big, so he spotted Katie leaning against the shower wall next to the toilet struggling to get up.

"Jeez, Agent Gibbs, knock much! What if I was naked?" Katie exclaimed.

"You're not naked, so it doesn't matter. What happened?" Gibbs asked.

"Nothing, just thought I'd take a few moments to truly enjoy the scenery. This is a nice bathroom, you know." Katie replied.

"How long have you been sick?"

"I'm not sick. What makes you think I'm sick?" Katie retorted.

"You mean other than you sitting on the floor of this bathroom that smells like vomit?" Gibbs questioned.

"I'm fine." Katie replied.

"Yeah, you look fine. Come on, let's get you downstairs with DiNozzo." Gibbs replied, bending down and offering his hand to the teenager.

Katie refused Gibbs' help, and without too much difficulty, she made in down the flight of stairs and into the living room, plopping onto the end of the couch, which had been occupied by Tony just moments earlier.

Confidant that Katie was in no immediate danger, Gibbs briefly redirected his attention to his senior field agent.

"Where the hell did you go?" Gibbs muttered, unaware Katie was listening to him.

"Tony? Looks like he's over there. Guess I'm not the only one getting acquainted with the floor today." Katie said, pointing to a figure across the room, on the floor next to the reclining chair.

"Tony? Tony?" Gibbs said as he made his way to Tony's side.

"Oh, hey Boss. You're back." Tony said dryly as he tried to sit up, immediately regretting it as his recent gun shot wound caused a searing hot pain to shoot up his entire leg. He swayed as he fought the sudden urge to vomit, and Gibbs eased him into a sitting position against the chair.

"Take it easy DiNozzo, you just passed out." Gibbs said, pulling out his phone to call Ducky.

"DiNozzos don't pass out Boss." Tony replied instantly.

"Really? Than what would you call this?" Gibbs asked.

"Tripping" Tony said.

"You tripped? On what, the carpet?" Gibbs asked with a smirk.

"No, one of the crazy, furry devil beasts that kid calls pets." Tony said.

"Alright Tony, think you can get up?"

"Course I can. Just need to wait for my stupid leg to start working. Damn bullet hole! I forgot how much getting shot sucked!" Tony said, trying to mask his pain but failing miserably.

Gibbs helped Tony onto his feet and Tony heavily limped the several feet across the room to the couch.

"You stole my seat kid." Tony commented before taking a seat at the other end of the couch.

"So get off your ass and do something about it." The kid replied with a smirk.

"Hey language kid." Tony said.

"I'm not a kid." Katie replied.

"Really, did I miss the big day kid? You can vote now?" Tony questioned.

Without warning, the 'kid' in question removed a shoe and chucked it at DiNozzo, he barely dogged it in time.

"Hey, do I look like Bush to you?" Tony asked from across the room.

"Do I need to separate you two?" Gibbs asked, grabbing Katie's second shoe before she had the chance to launch it.

"Yes" "No" Katie and Tony replied simultaneously. Once Katie realized she was out of ammo she sighed in defeat, causing Tony to smirk at stick his tongue out at the girl. Gibbs shook his head and momentarily wondered which one of the pair was currently more mature: his long time senior field agent, or the 17 year old girl.

Katie suddenly went from looking extremely pale to green and seconds later was emptying her stomach contents onto the floor.

"Gross, kid! Ever heard of this thing called a bathroom?" Tony said jokingly, but Gibbs recognized the underlying hint of concern in DiNozzo's voice. Considering the way Tony acted most of the time, Gibbs really wasn't surprised that DiNozzo had quickly befriended the teenager.

"DiNozzo, make yourself useful and call Ducky." Gibbs instructed.

"Calling Ducky boss." Tony said as he whipped out his cell phone.

By the time Ducky arrived 40 minutes later, Katie had stopped vomiting and Tony had needed three trips to the head.

"Ah, Jethro, where are my patients?" Ducky asked when Gibbs met him at the front door.

"Living room, Duck."

"Alright, and what exactly are their symptoms as Anthony neglected to tell me over the phone."

"Vomiting, diarrhea, and a tendency towards ending up on the floor but refusing to admit they actually passed out. DiNozzo is convinced it's that stomach flu McGee had. He's currently planning his revenge in between trips to the head."

"And dare I ask what young Katie is planning?" Ducky asked.

"Not sure yet, but DiNozzo is definitely the target. She's still pissed I took her second shoe after she launched the first one right at Tony's head, he just barely dodged it in time."

"Ah-ha, it seems as though you have your hands full Jethro."

"You have no idea Duck." Gibbs commented as he walked into the living room with his long time friend.

He sighed as he spotted Katie on the third step, looking worse for wear.

"Hey, where do you think your going?" Gibbs asked, catching Katie by surprise.

"Um, nowhere now." Katie muttered as she turned around and slowly began her descend down the stairs.

A toilet flushed across the room and a miserable looking DiNozzo emerged seconds later.

"Ha ha! Told you you'd never make it up there before Gibbs got back. Besides, he'd just take whatever ammo you were going to get anyway!" Tony said with a smile.

"Just consider yourself lucky Uncle Mike wouldn't pack my swords or knives Tony!"

"Ducky, will you please sedate the mini crazy ninja chick before she kills me!" Tony begged.

"Oh please, quit being a baby, I'm not gonna kill you, you're just gonna wish you were dead!" Katie said with a smirk.

"See! Crazy!" Tony replied.

"That's enough, both of you!" Gibbs barked instantly silencing both of them.

"Alright, since Katie is closer I'm going to start with you." Ducky said, carrying his bag over to the teenager and taking a seat next to her.

A few minutes into Ducky's exam, Katie suddenly bolted up and ran into the bathroom. She emerged not long after and returned to her seat on the couch.

"Um Ducky?"

"Yes, Katie?

"Do you think this could be..." She whispered, not wanting Tony to hear her question.

"Oh my, I hadn't even thought of that. I take it you've had this before?" Ducky asked, gaining the attention of both Tony and Gibbs.

"Yeah, about 20 months ago."

"I see, well that certainly changes things. I'm going to need to do some tests." Ducky said.

"Tests? For what Duck?" Gibbs asked, wondering what Katie had said which had suddenly caught Ducky's attention.

**TBC: **


	9. Good Gut, Bad Gut

**Seeing Life Differently Chapter 8: Good Gut, Bad Gut**

**Author's Note: So, so, so sorry for the delay. I'm afraid this chapter isn't the most exciting either. But the good news is I'm almost finished with this story, meaning there are less than five chapters left, and I know exactly how its going to end. I can tell you right now, every single one of you is going to be completely shocked. Enough of my ranting, on with the story!**

"Jethro, Katie's mentioned something rather interesting which I believe should be considered as a possibility into her illness and possibly Anthony's too. I'm afraid I need to go acquire some supplies which I don't have with me." Ducky said.

"Right, you need _supplies_ for this _test._" Gibbs said, making it clear he wasn't happy about being kept in the dark.

"Jethro, please, not now. This is just a hunch, I will explain everything to you as soon as I have something concrete for you. I don't want to alarm anyone unless its necessary. If you don't mind, I'd like to take young Caitlin with me."

"Katie, Ducky, it's just Katie." Tony explained.

"Yes, of course, my bad." Ducky said to Katie.

"Where do you need to go?" Gibbs asked.

"Bethesda should suffice. Shouldn't be there more than 30 minutes if I'm charming." Ducky said.

"Charm away, Doctor. I'll call Ziva, tell her to meet you there, after all, Katie still is in our protective custody. Until you meet up with Ziva, I want you to call me every ten minutes to check in. Of course, with her driving, she'll probably get to the hospital before you do." Gibbs explained.

"Why Jethro, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you just called me a slow driver." Ducky replied with a smirk.

"Good thing we all know better." Tony said with a knowing smile.

"Of course, Jethro. Right, well then, we'll be back as soon as possible. Katie, would you like to bring some reading material? It's a rather long drive." Ducky asked.

"No, thanks, Ducky. I've got my iPod so I'm fine." Katie said.

"Duck, meet us back at the Navy yard. DiNozzo and I are going to see what's new."

"We are? Awesome, road trip with the boss. I can't wait to see the look on McGoo's face when I-"

A sharp headslap stopped Tony mid-sentence. "When I offer my assistance in the case." Tony finished after thinking for a moment.

Gibbs smirked as he headed into the kitchen to pour himself a fresh mug of coffee for the road.

As soon as Gibbs pulled into his usual parking spot in the NCIS lot, Tony bolted out of the passenger seat and emptied his stomach contents onto the pavement. It took nearly a full five minutes before he stopped and his dry heaving had passed.

"You good now, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, trying to hide his concern for his senior field agent.

"Always knew that your driving would be the death of me, boss." Tony replied, making no effort to move towards the entrance of the building. He wasn't quite sure he was done 'dying' yet.

"Don't make me smack you again." Gibbs threatened.

"I'm done for the moment." Tony added.

"Good. Think you can make it to your desk?" Gibbs questioned.

"Of course I can, I'm not dead yet." Tony said, giving a weak smile. Gibbs couldn't help but smirk in response.

It took Tony almost ten minutes to make it to his desk, and less then five minutes after that, he took off running towards the head.

"Boss, is Tony alright?" McGee asked, concerned.

"He'll live. Tell me you have something for me, McGee."

"I do, boss. Several things. First is an interesting development with the marine that was killed at the Pentagon."

"Nicholas Peters, the mail man. What about him?"

"Well, I started reviewing the security camera footage the week leading up to the explosion, looking for anything out of the ordinary." McGee began.

"What'd you find?" Gibbs asked.

McGee quickly hit a few keys and walked over to the over-sized monitor hanging next to his desk.

"This. It was taken three days before the explosion at 0900. Peters steps out for a smoke, and gets some company." McGee explained, hitting a few additional keys and a video started playing.

Although there was no sound, Gibbs knew the figures that had joined Nicholas Peters weren't there for a smoke. His gut instinct was confirmed moments later when the leader of the three men landed several well placed blows. The blows continued for several seconds before the head guy said something and the three men walked away.

"Any idea what this guy said to Peters, McGee?"

"No, but I sent it to Abby, hoping she'd be able to read his lips." McGee replied.

"Good work, what else to you have."

"Well, since nobody has reached Linda Docitt yet, I've started digging deeper into her life. Your not going to like what I found." McGee said, as he once again typed something and several documents popped up on the monitor.

Gibbs quickly scanned the contents of the screen and was shocked.

"You sure about this McGee?" Gibbs questioned.

"Positive boss, I double checked. Also, I called the hospital Katie was born at. They have no records of Linda Docitt ever giving birth to a child, Katie, or even being admitted to their hospital but they confirmed that this birth certificate is absolutely real otherwise." McGee explained.

Gibbs nodded as he thought about what this development meant. The reason they were having such a hard time finding Linda Docitt was because she didn't exist. He suddenly wondered just what the hell they had stumbled into, with mysterious people trying to kill a child, who according to McGee, didn't exist. Who was it his team was protecting? An innocent child or the daughter of some criminal mastermind?

Nearly four hours later, Ziva, Ducky, and Katie finally exited the elevator leading to the team's desks. Ducky looked concerned, while Ziva and Katie looked equally pissed off.

Ducky was carrying a small bag, which Gibbs recognized all too well as IV fluids.

"Something you'd like to share Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"Jethro, please, we've only just arrived. I need to re-attach this IV first." Ducky said.

"You can use my desk, Ducky." Ziva offered.

"Why thank you, Ziva. Katie, take a seat."

A few moments later Ducky had re-attached the IV to Katie, taping the bag to the wall divider surrounding Ziva's desk.

"Hey McGeek?" Katie asked.

McGee shot Tony a dirty look, clearly blaming him for Katie using his nickname, but Tony merely shrugged in response.

"Um, yes Katie?" McGee questioned.

"Have you found anything about my Mom yet?" Katie asked.

Not expecting this question from Katie, McGee was momentarily caught off guard.

Luckily, Gibbs up. "We have some new information, but we're not sure what it means yet. I'll explain everything as soon as I talk to Ducky."

"Whatever." Katie muttered, unaware of Gibbs superb hearing.

Katie pulled out her iPod and turned it on, before closing her eyes, effectively cutting herself off from her surroundings.

"What's in the IV, Ducky?" McGee asked.

"It's just fluids, Timothy. Katie is severely dehydrated, which is mainly what took us so long. Katie had no problem supplying the stool samples I needed, but the blood and urine was a different story. It took nearly an hour before the hospital's best IV specialist could locate a vein to draw blood from. It was another two hours before Katie produced any urine, which wasn't enough. The doctors wanted to admit her, but Katie refused so they gave me fluids and several specimen jars to collect what I need for the rest of the tests."

"Wait a second, medical experts told you she needed to be in the hospital, she refused and you let her? Just like that?" Gibbs asked.

"Of course not, Jethro. She told me her reasoning, and well, I agreed with her line of thought."

"Which was?"

"That the hospital could be responsible for her current gastro-intestinal distress. And yours too, Anthony. I'm going to need a stool sample from you, my dear boy." Ducky said.

"What? Oh, come on Ducky!" Tony complained.

"Anthony, please. If my theory is correct, you'll need treatment immediately. The longer this is left untreated, the greater the chances are for permanent damage and in severe cases, death."

"Alright, no need to be dramatic Ducky. I survived the freaking plague, do you really think I'd let some stupid stomach flu from hell ruin all my fun? I'll be right back." Tony said, grabbing the empty cup from Ducky and heading to the men's room.

Sure enough, he emerged only a few minutes later and handed the sample to Ducky, who seemed to be the only one not disgusted by the contents of the container.

Ducky briefly examined the contents of the clear container, obviously, without removing the sealed lid.

"Anthony, you need to force more liquids. You're getting dehydrated as well. I suggest you get some Gatorade before I'm forced to give you Intravenous fluids as well."

"McGee!" Gibbs barked.

"Yes, boss?"

"Go get Gatorade!" Gibbs ordered.

"On it, boss." McGee said, quickly grabbing his wallet and car keys from his desk drawer. He didn't bother with his badge or gun, hoping he wouldn't need them for a ten minute trip to a convenient store.

**Author's Note Number Two: I had planned for a bunch of Tony whumping to come in this chapter, but my little muse decided to take this in a very different direction. I tried to go back and add some whump, because, who doesn't love Tony whump? Hopefully I was at least somewhat successful. For those of you who said you didn't care about Katie, I promise she will not appear much in the next chapter, if at all. I've got about a third of it written already and she's yet to make an appearance. It's all about DiNozzo and the case. **

**And I solemnly promise, I will try to get this next chapter to you by the end of the summer :) **

**Kidding, I hope. Should be up in a week at the most. If not, feel free to Gibbs slap me until I post it.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **For those of you who don't know, Gatorade is a sports drink that professional athletes often use to replenish the fluids they sweat out during practices and games. Because it is packed full of electrolytes, doctors say it is one of the best treatments for dehydration.

Also, the reason for my naming this story "Seeing Life Differently" is revealed in this chapter. Yes, I've known this was coming since the beginning.

Gibbs could tell by the close eye Ducky was keeping on the teenager lounging in a desk chair, that he was deeply concerned. He was just about to ask Duck to join him in his "office" when Katie sat up abruptly and eyed the bag of fluids taped to the wall.

"This thing is portable right?" She asked Ducky.

"Well, yes it can b-" Ducky didn't get a chance to finish as Katie grabbed the bag and took off towards the stairs.

"Ziva!" Gibbs exclaimed, simply.

Ziva got the message and quickly caught up with the girl at the top of the stairs. Seconds later they had entered the restroom right next to MTAC.

"Duck, now that it's just us, you want to tell me what exactly you're testing for?" Gibbs asked.

"Jethro, you know that I do not like to speculate about such things and I'm afraid the testing process will take a good four hours."

"I didn't ask about the results Duck, I asked what you are testing for. What is your gut telling you?"

"Oh, can we not mention the word 'gut' or anything related to it." Tony groaned.

"I suspect Anthony and young Katie have contracted C-Diff."

"I see what different?" Tony questioned.

"No, Anthony 'C-Diff' is short for Clostridium Difficle, it's a potentially life-threatening bacterial virus that almost always results from a hospital stay and IV antibiotic treatment. It's very hard to kill and can easily be passed from anyone sharing the same restroom."

"How can a bacteria be life threatening Ducky?" Tony asked.

"Well, the Clostridium Difficle bacteria naturally reside in the body, but strong antibiotic treatment can allow them to become overpopulated. The overpopulation is quite harmful because the bacterium release toxins, which result in severe vomiting, diarrhea, and in severe cases can cause a life-threatening infection of the colon." Ducky explained.

"What's the treatment?" Gibbs asked, suddenly quite concerned for his senior field agent and key witness.

"Well, most cases of C-Diff resolve themselves after the antibiotics are discontinued."

"Sweet, I stopped taking mine the day after I got out of the hospital!" Tony exclaimed, earning an immediate head slap from Gibbs.

"What have I told you about not taking medications your doctors tell you to?" Gibbs asked.

"Anthony DiNozzo! Jethro, slap that boy for me as well!" Ducky exclaimed, and Gibbs happily complied.

"What? You just said that's the treatment for this C-Different anyway!"

"Anthony, if you truly stopped taking your antibiotics when you said, then I need you start you on vancomycin immediately! The symptoms should have disappeared within 48-72 hours of stopping the antibiotics, it's been over 10 days."

"Meaning?" Gibbs asked.

"Meaning, if the stool samples come back positive, you have a serious case which could become severe. I won't risk waiting for the results, I'll get Mr. Palmer to pick up some vancomycin immediately."

Six hours later Gibbs emerged from his basement after nearly three hours of working on his latest boat. He was surprised to find Tony sprawled out on his living room couch, unmoving. He'd come up an hour and 40 minutes ago to check on his senior field agent and DiNozzo had been sound asleep in his spare bedroom, snoring loudly. Gibbs briefly considered allowing Tony to stay, but quickly dismissed the idea after recalling how he felt the last time he'd fallen asleep on that couch.

As Gibbs took a few swift steps across the living room to reach the couch, Tony abruptly sat up.

"What are you doing here?" Gibbs asked.

"Boss, you wound me. Don't tell me you forgot about my sleepover so soon!" Tony answered with a smirk.

"DiNozzo!"

"Oh, you meant _here_ as in on the couch here? Well, you see, I was on my way back from the head when I saw the lights on down here. I noticed the couch, thought it looked cold so I thought I would come down and keep it warm." Tony said, patting a cushion for emphasis.

"Alright, fine. I couldn't sleep because of my gut."

"Thought you told me that stuff Palmer gave you was working?"

"It is, a little. I didn't mean my _gut _gut, I meant my Gibbs gut."

"Your Gibbs gut? Didn't realize you had one of those."

"Abby's words, not mine. Besides, I think the Gibbs gut was included with that sweater from Jack."

"Hey!"

"What? I love that sweater."

"So what's bothering your gut?"

"The Kid. Well, mainly the Kid's mother, but the more I think about it, the more hinky everything the Kid has told us seems."

"How so?"

"I swear, when she first woke up in the hospital, and I introduced myself as NCIS she seemed relieved, almost comfortable even."

"So what are you saying?"

"I don't think this is the first time she's had a near death experience but since there are no mentions of serious injury or trauma in her medical history, I think it's a fake. I think the Kid's identity is a cover."

"Witness Protection? That sure as hell would explain the Mother's mysterious top-secret assignment and our inability to reach her, but it does not explain why the U.S. Marshalls didn't come and reclaim their witness. They don't let anyone piss on their protective detail parade." Gibbs thought aloud.

"What are we going to do?"

"You are going to go back upstairs and get some sleep like Ducky told you. I'm gonna make some calls."

"Lemme guess, some old friend from your Gunny days who owes you a favor because you saved their six?"

"No, Fornell."

"Fornell, what's he gonna do, steal another wife?"

"No, he's going to tell me everything he knows about Linda Docitt."

"How are you gonna get him to do that?"

"DiNozzo. Upstairs. Bed. Go. Now!"

"On it, Boss!" Tony said, as he retreated up the old wooden staircase. He paused halfway up and shouted down, "Tell Toby I said 'hi'" before ascending the remaining few stairs and entering the guest bedroom.

Once Gibbs was sure DiNozzo had actually gone to bed, he pulled out his cell phone.

"Tobias, it's me. Yes, I know what time it is. Yes, I know most people are asleep right now. I need a favor."

A/N: So sorry this chapter took so long, I'm still not happy with the way it turned out but I wanted to get this posted so I can start working on the final three. They are going to be EPIC!

Also, I strongly suggest everyone rewatch the 100th episode "Chimera" a certain character from it will be playing a role in the remainder of this story.


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